Hempstead, NY – Behind a Zyheima Swint double-double and a 19-rebound difference between its opponent, the Hofstra women's basketball team claimed a 60-53 win from inside the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex in early-season Coastal Athletic Association action.
 
Hofstra moves to 8-7 overall and 3-1 in the league with the win on Sunday, while Drexel drops to 6-7 overall and 2-1 against conference competition.
 
Swint finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds against the Dragons for her third double-double this season and 12th of her career. Chloe Sterling poured in a game-high 17 points in the win after finishing with a season-low three points against Charleston on Friday, while tallying four assists and four rebounds, and Ramatoulaye Keita finished with eight rebounds and six points.
 
The lead changed three times inside the first five minutes of the opening quarter, before a fast break layup by Janaia Fargo with 2:36 remaining gave Hofstra the lead for good. A three by Emma Von Essen with 57 seconds left put the score at 12-8 in favor of the Pride.
 
Hofstra came out of the gates firing to begin the second quarter, rattling off a 12-2 run lasting from a Sterling three to open the frame until Sabrina Larsson finished off a steal-and-score on a fast break layup prior to the 5:48 media timeout, giving the Pride a game-high 14-point lead over the visitors. Drexel brought the margin under single-digits with five consecutive points out of the timeout by leading scorer Amaris Baker, putting the score at 24-15 at the 4:21 mark. Hofstra's lead shrank to as little as seven with 2:46 to play, but Swint scored on a jumper at 1:53 and converted a free throw with 1:07 left before halftime to rebuild the 10-point lead. Drexel cut the lead to eight twice inside the final minute, but a driving layup by Sterling with three seconds before the buzzer put the Pride on top, 34-24, at halftime.
 
Sterling hit a running floater to up Hofstra's lead to 12 inside the opening two minutes of the third quarter, and the Pride's lead with grow to 13 after Swint converted a three-point play at 8:04 with a layup and free throw. After Maddie Pounds connected on a three at 5:05, Drexel scored seven unanswered points to trail by six after a three from Molly Lavin at 2:44. The Pride responded on the very next possession on a three by Fargo at 2:29, putting the Pride ahead by nine going into the fourth quarter.
 
Hofstra grew its lead to 12 with a 5-2 run to open the fourth, but Drexel brought the difference to seven with five unanswered points in a span of just under three minutes. Von Essen connected on her second three of the contest at 3:03 to put Hofstra's lead back in double-digits, but Drexel cut the gap to six with six of the next eight points on consecutive threes. Drexel made it a five-point game with 19 seconds remaining in regulation, but free throws from Keita and Fargo iced the game for Hofstra.
 
Drexel had three finish in double figures, with Amaris Baker scoring 14 to lead the team.
 
Hofstra travels to North Carolina for its next CAA contest. The Pride will face Elon on Sunday, January 19, at 1 p.m. from Burlington.
 
NOTES:
-Hofstra is now 32-50 all-time against Drexel. Sunday's win snaps a 12-game Drexel winning streak against Hofstra, and this is the Pride's first win over the Dragons since February 26, 2017.
-Hofstra heavily outrebounded Drexel, 45-26, and outshot the Dragons, 44.9% (22-49) to 36.2% (21-58).
-Swint's 11 rebounds gives her 767 for her career and moves into 10th for the most rebounds in school history, passing Betsy Lange (761, 1988-92).
-With two threes against the Dragons, Von Essen has 174 three-pointers in her career. She needs three to tie and four to pass Ana Hernandez Gil (177, 2016-20) for fifth-most in program history.